Welcome to the Wild and Whimsical World of Internet Dating

Personal Ads? Do they work? At what cost?

Charline: 45, single-and-looking.

She lives in a very small town nestled in the redwoods in Southern Oregon. An English major who loves the Pacific Northwest and the Arts, she subscribes to the New York Review of Books. Last year, she decided try the NYRB Personal ads.

For months, she had been amused and intrigued by the ads and – in a c’est le guerre kind of mood – she crafted a succinct and attractive ad.

An expensive venture ($5.00 will buy you one word) Charline ponied up $150 for a 30-word ad and sat back. Who would respond? Nick in Brooklyn, Clive in New Haven?, JohnE Be Good in San Francisco? The ad ran for one week and produced a beguiling response from Mark D;

Quelle surprise: he lived 15 miles away. They met, they clicked, and have been together ever since. It happens.

Personal ads – avoid dangling your participles.

When you are paying a hefty $5 per word for a Personals ad, one tends to choose their nouns carefully. On the other hand, if you are writing a Craigslist ad – free of charge – you might be a little less discreet about your word choice and message.

How much does that love letter cost?

Here are two NYRB samples (She wrote/He wrote)

Note: Ads are mildly edited for the sake of the singles. COST: NYRB Personals – Hers: over $500.00 His: over $750.00

BLUE-EYED, TALL, SLIM, late 50s, City Boy—More Ryan Reynolds meets Ed Norton than Tom Cruise meets Vin Diesel. Educated at Harvard and New Haven… working with non-profits and on Wall Street. Passionate about music and even played in Carnegie Hall; enjoy: hiking, biking, yoga, tennis, art, gourmet food and wine, and black-tie dinners …reading, stimulating conversation and cooking…my tastes range from punk to ballroom…Attracted to lithe figures and dynamic personalities, reading, stimulating conversation and cooking. Love to travel and have lived abroad.. Looking for LTR and kids with a woman 20 years my junior who is spiritual yet grounded. Please send letter and photo to: Box 007

Tomorrow: Craigslist; It’s free: do you get what you paid for? or more?